Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-06-03
THE DUTCH GAP CANAL.
Gen. Butler Tells Its History at the Ra-
union Of the Sixth Massachusetts.

union Of the Sixth Massachusetts.
After song by the quartet. Col Jones
asked Gen. Butler TO give his old comrades
a history of the Iutch Gap canal The
general complied, and his explanation,
never before made. was listened TO with
intense interest b. all. He said The
army of the James lay on Sept l3, 1854,
along the outer lines of Richmond, oCcu-
pylng a portion of the line of the main
army under Grant We could not ad-
vance, because the enemy had control of
James river, and if the army passed in
| the rear of the forts the Confederate iron
clads would have every advantage of at
lacking them in the rear French creek
| makes a detour of seven miles and returns
again 10 point where it is only 435 feet
from water 10 water, and this is a bluff
sixty feet high. | had a consultation with
Gen. Grant and his chief engineer said
| II We could get our iruncla,ls to drive the
| enemys fleet up the river the army could
follow, but as the river was but seven
| feet deep around this seven mile detour.
and the iron,lads drew fifteen OF sixteen
ieet, II was not possible 10 get them
| around. ] then suggested the cut, which
WAS known rs Dutch Gap; if it We're made
we could get twenty-one feet Of water
agreed, and gave me the services of his
engineer. So, while one of Buffers fail
ures, il was not one Of his misjudgmeuts,
as it was ordered by Grant.
The work was at once begun and on |
Christmas day of 1864 il was completed, |
except about twenty-five feet, which |!
formed bulkhead between the water on |
either side. During the process Of eNCa- |
Walton the enemy threw at least 80, 900 |
shells at us. The canal was To be ninety |
feet across the bottom and an average /
depth of twenty-five feet. During the /
digging had a hole made in the bank
and two men stationed on the bluffs above
and when mortar shell would rise from
the enemy's fleet they would shout
'Shellr and all would run for the holes
and remain until the shell exploded
There was one mule killed, believe, and
an army wagon destroyed, and that was
about all the damage done. had an en-
thusiastic supporter in my work i'll the
person Of Admiral MelanCthon Smith. who
commanded the Union ironclads, hut he
was removed 10 another sphere of useful
ness just prior 10 the opening OF the canal.
Having properly mined the bulkhead, on
Dec. p | blew il up, and in twenty
four hours there were three feet of water
q ,
hours more, by dredging, could have run
an ironclad through At that hour /
stopped work, and the country and press
rang with the report of Buffers failure at
Dutch Gap canal / couldn't tell then.
but can tell now. After l opened the
hole the man who succeeded Admiral
Smith wrote me a letter, in which he
said: For Gods sake don't let the rebel I
lion ironclads down upon u.s. ! have got =
that letter. ] am not in the habit of de- {
stroying documents. But what could |
do! l couldn't say then that our fleet
was afraid of the enemy. What would
have been said of me if l had done sos
But let me say that on Jan. Q, '
1860, the enemy's ironclads came out of d
French creek when the water was high, a
and drove our ironclads SO fast that they !
didn't wait even 10 open the draw in the
pontoon bridges, but crashed through ,
them, and they, in my judgment, wouldn't \
have stopped until they reached Fortress !.
Monroe but fer the fact that one of the :
vessels got ashore and the rest of :
he fleet was delayed SO long in assisting
her that the water began to fall, and they
'eturned unharmed. As for that naval
,fficer, whose name won't give you, but L
7ou can read it in the history of the coun- 5
ry, he was court martialed, found guilty {
Il cowardice, and ordered 10 be dismissed C
rom the service. The order would have a
'een carried out but it never was APP II
'roved by the secretary of the navy. Now, 81
et me say that Dutch Gap is the only way
o get TO Richmond by the James river
french creek has grown up with grass
is the only nook that has ever been II :
ny earthly Use to humanity, and to-day
} benefit TO navigation of the James" Y
Boston Globe. 6